Last day

Our last morning was spent at the beach. We also thought we’d be attending a Christening. We made friends with one of the waitresses at the hotel cocktail bar who is from Veracruz. She invited us to her nephew’s Christening, but then never showed up at the appointed time. I hope we didn’t get the times wrong. We heard “a las dos” (2pm), but I wonder if she had said “a las doce” at 12pm. We’ll never know, but anyway we had a nice afternoon at a beach bar and then an amazing dinner at a top notch Argentinean restaurant called “Sur”. I reckon it must be the best restaurant in town. Very authentic, fantastic food and very competent staff. http://www.todoplayadelcarmen.com/playa-del-carmen-sur-restaurant.html

El Tukan, El tu-can't

El Tukan was a simple hotel with nice gardens and a no-can-do attitude. In fact, we started calling it El tu-can’t.

• Getting more than a dribble out of the shower? El tu-can’t.
• Hot water? El tu-can’t.
• Fresh orange juice at breakfast (Mexico is full of juicy oranges)? El tu-can’t.
• Hairdryer? El tu-can’t
• A cup of coffee in the bar? El tu-can’t.
• A beach towel before 8am? El tu-can’t.
• Permission to take off the plastic bracelet? El tu-can’t.
• A quick breakfast? El tu-can’t. Painful. Very painful.
• A free safety deposit box for valuables? El tu-can’t.
• Can I put this on my tab? El tu-can’t.

OK, we are whining (it’s fun). I suppose it wasn’t that bad for what we paid (hardly anything). Here are some things that El tu-can:

• Loungers at the beautiful beach? El tu-can!
• Cocktails on trendy white sofas over looking 5^th Avenue? El tu-can!
• Towels artistically twisted into bunnies and other animals? El tu-can! (providing you tip the chambermaid)
• Tasty nachos with jalapenos? El tu-can!
• Free wireless in the lobby? El tu-can!
• Nice balcony? El tu-can!

We are definitely kinder than some of the people posting reviews on Trip Advisor.

Lush grounds of the hotel


This is what happens when you tip the chambermaids


Resort entrance on 5th Avenue

Playa del carmen

Last look at the beach

Chichen Itza 4

The visit to Chichen Itza was a very memorable day. I loved wandering around the ruins for the day. Apparently, you used to be able to climb the main pyramid, but it was all cordoned off. I wonder how long that has been the case. We didn’t go on a tour. I couldn’t face it. The itineraries included a dance show, a stop at the artesan’s market and no doubt a running commentary. We took the local bus there and back instead and it was very comfortable. It gave us plenty of time there and meant that we missed the crowds too.

Chichen Itza 3

Chichen Itza 2

Chichen Itza 1

Playa del Carmen 2

Playa del Carmen couldn’t be more different from Xalapa. Xalapa is a normal town. Playa del Carmen (or at least the strip with all the hotels, restaurants and shops) exists only for tourists. We’d get lots of invitations (sometimes borderline hassle) to go into shops and restaurants, to buy tours, listen to roving musicians, to take taxis and so on. We are walking dollar signs. Apart from this, I liked being near the beach and being around lots of very relaxed holidaymakers from all parts of the world enjoying themselves. It tended to be couples and families including Mexicans which was nice. Our hotel seemed to be full of Scandinavian package tourists. There was a great selection of Scandinavian crime fiction in the lobby – even better if I could read Norwegian, Finnish or Swedish.

Playa del Carmen

The beach really was gorgeous. I know it sounds like a cliché, but I really don’t think I’ve ever seen such perfect, white, soft sand. It was like sugar and didn’t burn your feet. The water was pristine and such a beautiful colour. I’d go back to the Caribbean again in a heartbeat.

Booking a trip

Xalapa is a nice place to be based, but we also hoped to take a couple of trips to other parts of Mexico while we are here. We looked into buses to Oaxaca. They take quite a long time and were actually fairly booked up at the weekends. We didn’t feel like taking 2 flights and connecting in Mexico City, so looked into where we could fly directly from Veracruz. Cancun won the draw because it would mean that we could see Chichen Itza and also get our first ever glimpse of the Caribbean. This was particularly tempting as we planned the trip on a freezing, drizzly Xalapa evening at the end of a week of particularly bad weather.

I booked the flights with Travelocity and from a few dollars more each per night, we could include a hotel! Brilliant. I spent a few hours looking at some of the major all inclusive deals which would be just a couple of hundred dollars more each, but in the end we opted for a simple place. Unless it was a really high-end place like the Banyan Tree, it could be a mistake to rely on offerings in the hotel. There were some pretty scathing reports on Trip Advisor that put us off. We avoided Cancun itself as it has such a bad reputation for being the playground for underage drinkers at “Spring Break” (yes, it’s spring break right now). We opted for the (apparently) more upmarket resort of Playa del Carmen down the road and a cheap hotel with a beach club called El Tukan.